NKO has advised CTP on the acquisition of Levante Logistics from the Kenzai Group. Stanivuk & Manasijevski advised the seller.

Writing an editorial proved to be equally as challenging as operating in the CEE legal market. For the record, I will confine my experiences mostly to the region of the Western Balkans. In hindsight, the past year(s) were something of a specialty, even by our own criteria and relative to our extensive experience. But let’s start from the beginning…

While the world continues its endless battle against the COVID-19 consequences that are affecting all aspects of our social, economic, and political life, Serbian legislation is experiencing a revolution in the energy field. In April 2021, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia adopted two new laws – the Law on the Use of Renewable Energy Sources and the Law on Energy Efficiency and Rational Use of Energy, as well as amendments to the Energy Law and the Law on Mining and Geological Research.

During the first half of 2022 the Commission for Protection of Competition of the Republic of Serbia ("Commission") has been very proactive with respect to prevention of competition infringements. As a result of these efforts, in May the Commission also adopted a new Instruction for detecting bid rigging in public procurement procedures ("Instruction") thereby updating the older version of the Instruction from 2011.

The Regional (Labour) Court in Schleswig-Holstein (Germany) has recently passed a judgement ordering the personal data controller to pay EUR 2,000 in compensation of non-material damage for the violation of personal data, as a result of publishing a promotional video featuring the employee without its informed and written consent.

BDK Advokati, working with Kirkland & Ellis, has advised Francisco Partners on its acquisition of SAP Litmos from SAP.

Karanovic & Partners has advised the Green for Growth Fund on extending a EUR 10 million loan facility to UniCredit Bank Serbia.

High levels of migration from Russia and Ukraine have been causing a boom in the real estate sector in Serbia, in a period of overall legislative slowdown, according to Zivkovic Samardzic Partner Branislav Zivkovic.

Schoenherr, working with Pinsent Masons and Wenger Vieli, has advised Kontron on selling parts of Kontron Group’s IT services business to Vinci Energies during a competitive auction process, for approximately EUR 400 million. Reportedly, Baker McKenzie’s German office advised Vinci Energies. Loloci & Associates advised Kontron on Albanian matters.

The new repatriation program – Carta Serbica – has been recently introduced allowing people with Serbian roots to obtain temporary residence and possible citizenship in the land of their ancestors.

Cvjeticanin & Partners has advised Lenovo on the implementation of GDPR rules for its OhrabreNA educational program in Serbia.

Karanovic & Partners, working with McDermott Will & Emery, has advised Hidden Harbor Capital Partners on its acquisition of Dayco.

Recently, non-fungible tokens (“NFTs”) have become the subject of significant public attention, primarily due to the high amounts of money allocated for their purchase. For example, it is estimated that the worth of the global NFT market in 2021 was about 41 billion dollars, which is more than the value of the market of classical works of art. For the sake of comparison, that is approximately twice the amount of the budget of the Republic of Serbia for 2022. Bearing in mind the nature and manner of functioning of NFTs, the nature of things raises the question of their relationship with intellectual property law, and above all, the relationship with trademark law​.

Former Partner and Co-Head of the Real Estate and Construction practice Ksenija Golubovic Filipovic has left Zivkovic Samardzic, as of August 1, 2022, to establish her own practice. She will continue to cooperate with the firm as a Consultant. Partner Uros Djordjevic will continue to lead the firm’s Real Estate and Construction practice.

NKO Partners has advised CTP on yet another acquisition of land in Novi Sad, this time from the City of Novi Sad itself.

Zivkovic Samardzic has advised Serbia’s commercial broadcasters Prva, B92, and Play Radio on obtaining national broadcasting licenses from Serbia’s regulatory authority for electronic media.

Despite being already recognized as one of the leading European countries regarding foreign investments, the Republic of Serbia continues its active policy of attracting foreign investors. The direct consequence of the substantial increasement in investments in a plethora of different fields is the fact that there are even more and more foreign natural and legal persons willing to invest in producing audiovisual works on the territory of the Republic of Serbia. The Republic of Serbia recognized this trend and took measures to improve the environment for investing in audiovisual works within the so-called creative industries (e.g. films, short films, TV shows, documentaries, animated films, etc. ‘’Industry’’).

During 2020, the Regional Court of Itzehoe (Germany) enacted a judgment in case no. 10 O 84/20, under which “Google” has a legitimate interest by virtue of Article 6(1)(f) GDPR to publish images of personal property for the needs of its services “Google Maps” and “Google Earth”.